GLC Public Art Project
Sunny photo of the front of the Graduate Life Center
To commemorate the 20th anniversary of the opening of the Graduate Life Center in 2005-06 and to celebrate graduate education at Virginia Tech, the Graduate School is spearheading the creation of a public art installation in the vicinity of the Graduate Life Center. With this installation we intended to:
- Recognize the importance of graduate education at Virginia Tech and the contributions of the Graduate School and graduate students to the mission of the university;
- Celebrate the creativity, strength, and endurance of the graduate community;
- Highlight the many and varied talents of graduate students; and
- Increase public art on the Blacksburg campus
The planning and creation of the art installation is designed with and for the active involvement of current graduate students, graduate alumni, and other friends of graduate education.
Major Themes for the Project
- The Graduate Life Center is a space and a place for holistic graduate education.
- Transformative graduate education that pushes the boundaries of traditional disciplinary education and provides the underpinnings for an innovative, holistic graduate experience.
- A graduate community that is strong, vibrant, welcoming, affirming, inclusive, curious, and thriving.
- Graduate education that celebrates interdisciplinary, multidisciplinary, and transdisciplinary approaches, spanning disciplines from science and engineering to arts and humanities.
Opportunities for Involvement
- Community Charrette: March 20, 2026 at 3:00pm in Room C in the GLC
Current graduate students and local friends of graduate education are invited to participate in this activity to inform project themes in the Request for Proposals. - Online Survey: Current graduate students, graduate alumni, and other friends of graduate education who are interested in contributing to the planning process are invited to share their input: https://gs.vt.edu/glcpublicart
- Financial support: You can support this project financially by following these steps to make a donation:
- Go to https://www.give.vt.edu/
- Choose Graduate School in “Select an area”
- Choose Other in “Select a fund”
- Enter GLC Public Art in “Designation”
- The call for Request for Proposals (RFP) will be shared in early April
Planning Committee
- Dr. Rosemary Blieszner, Dean Emerita and Alumni Distinguishes Professor Emerita
- Dr. C.L. Bohannon, Graduate Alumnus, PhD in Architecture and Design Research
- Dr. Kim Carlson, Graduate Alumna, 2011, PhD in Public Administration and Public Affairs
- Dr. Karen DePauw, Vice President Emerita for Graduate Education and Dean Emerita of the Graduate School
- Tatum Fox, MFA student in Creative Technologies
- Monika Gibson, Chief of Staff, Graduate School, Graduate Alumna, 2001 Master of Arts in Education, Educational Leadership and Policy Studies
- Mir Ahnaf Kabbya, MFA student in Creative Technologies
- Dr. Jordan Laney, graduate alumna, 2018 PhD in Alliance for Social Political Ethical and Cultural Thought
- Braden Perryman, Doctoral Student in Architecture and Design Research
- Lauren Pollard, Graduate Alumna, 2016 Master of Arts in Material Culture and Public Humanities, 2024 Master of Arts in Data Analytics and Applied Statistics
- Dr. Mohammed Seyam, Graduate Alumnus, 2017 PhD in Computer Science, Graduate Representative to the Board of Visitors 2015-16
- Ruth Walkes, Associate Provost for the Arts at Virginia Tech and Executive Director for the Center for the Arts
For more information contact Monika Gibson, gibsonm@vt.edu.